Just days after Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) brass announced it will be holding a Hall of Fame (HOF) induction ceremony during International Fight Week, which coincides with the upcoming UFC 189: "Aldo vs. McGregor" pay-per-view (PPV) event on July 11 in Las Vegas, Nevada, UFC president Dana White revealed one more late addition.
Joining Jeff Blatnick and the rematch between Matt Hughes and Frank Trigg, former UFC heavyweight champion and mixed martial arts (MMA) legend Bas Rutten will be inducted into the HOF.
From UFC's Press Release:
Former UFC heavyweight champion Bas Rutten will take his rightful place alongside other legendary innovators of the sport in the UFC Hall of Fame. Rutten, who also dominated the Japanese Pancrase organization's championship landscape during his 33 fight career, will join icons including Royce Gracie, Dan Severn and Chuck Liddell in the Pioneer Era wing of the new-look UFC Hall of Fame.
The Pioneer Era category recognizes great fighters who turned professional before November 17, 2000, when the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts were created and widely adopted. All but one of Rutten's 33 professional MMA bout were fought in the 1990s, with many of his greatest accomplishments taking place in Pancrase, which used hybrid rules, single-round fights and open-handed striking.
White surprised Rutten with the news during a recent segment on AXStv's Inside MMA, which you can watch in its entirety in the video above.
Rutten gave his thoughts on the honor:
"I never expected to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. I won the UFC heavyweight title, but injuries cut my UFC run short. Most of my big wins were in Japan. I saw the new UFC Hall of Fame format and I thought maybe I could get in eventually as a Contributor because of my years of commentating. But I'm so honored that the UFC recognized what I did as a fighter."
Other inductees in the "Modern Era" and "Pioneer Era" categories will be announced this weekend as part of scheduled UFC 187 programming. For more on the UFC Hall of Fame, including future plans for a physical location, click here.
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